History of Lourenne
The history of Lourenne is complex and varied. For large periods in the country's history, there were no written records so information has frequently been revised as new discoveries come to light and historians adjust their understanding. Early history 1496-1873: Colonial period The first Artanian people to reach Lourenne were Luthorian colonists, who had established posts in nearby Hulstria in the late 15th century however they described the regions as not being conducive to settlement. Proper attempts to settle in the region by "westerners" did not occur until a group of Rildanorien missionaries, led by Mathieu Dessaigne, landed in Haboves after a shipwreck. The survivors of the crash encountered a village inhabited native people (it is unclear whether they were Taxteco or Orinco people). Lourennais folklore says that Dessaigne convinced the villagers to shelter his crew in exchange for fine fabrics salvaged from the ship, spawning the popular saying that "Lourenne was born from a trade". Dessaigne was the sole survivor of the journey by the time he managed to find help, in the form of a Luthorian caravel. In his diary, he describes encountering various "great cities" built by local peoples, primarily Taxtecos, but he did not communicate his discoveries to the Luthorian settlers, convinced that he had been chosen by God to claim the region for the Theognosian Church. After returning to Rildanor, Dessaigne was granted an audience with Louis X, who was convinced by the merchant's poetic descriptions to finance a full colonial expedition of eastern Dovani. According to local folklore, it is said that the King enquired of Dessaigne, "what do they call these idyllic lands at the world's edge?" at which point Dessaigne realised he had never been given a name by the indigenous people and responded with the name of Saint Lourent, birthing the name "Lourenne". The full Rildanorien colonial expedition didn't arrive in Lourenne until 1498. Several missionaries had already attempted to convert the indigenous people to the Hosian faith but with mixed success. In the subsequent decades, the colonists used the Theognosian Church as a means to pacify the native people and establish their rule over the coastal communities. Under the viceroyalty of Salomon de Montrosier, the colonial rule in Lourenne hardened. De Montrosier began a campaign of conquest in an attempt to expand the extent of the Lourennais colonial territory. This period of rapid expansion brought the Rildanorien colonists into direct conflict with many of the Orinco natives, often referred to collectively as the Orinco Wars. During this period, the native peoples of Lourenne were subjected to widespread famine, brutality and, in some cases, slavery. By the 16th century, economic and social instability led the monarchy to begin a process of selling colonial possessions to private trading companies. Many of these corporations employed similarly brutal tactics to the colonial regime although there was a noticeable shift away from deliberately racist practices. By the 1800s, Lourenne had been transformed into a series of private holdings, owned by a few transnational mega-corporations. The largest companies, like Ducret-Levene Mercantile Company, possessed private armies which they used to defend their territories from native people. Despite the ongoing conflict, many of these companies employed thousands of Orinco people in manual labour jobs. Accompanying this period of company rule, a process of cultural homogenisation began. Canrillaise language, culture and tradition was idealised and thousands of Rildanoriens were brought across from the mainland to work as administrators, others migrated to take advantage of the new markets available. Industrial modernisation in Lourenne brought new challenges to the country, with the first major labour strikes in the mid 19th century. The significant Orinco labour force began to organise into unions, influenced by both trade unionist and egalitarian ideals. As Rildanorien domestic politics began to move towards universal rights and democracy, it became harder to rationalise the exploitative colonial regime in Lourenne. Intensifying labour disputes in the middle of the 19th century led the capitalist rulers of the region to appeal to the Rildanorien government for aid but internal conflict led to rejection. The seizure of a Rildanorien merchant vessel in 1853, following months of sporadic protests by native peoples across the country, led Rildanor's government to dispatch their own armed forces to reassert control over the territory in Lourenne, effectively nationalising the trading companies in the process. The burgeoning pro-democracy movement in Lourenne was harshly put down but this led to the radicalisation of many of those involved, transforming it into an anti-colonial movement. In Rildanor, these efforts found sympathy with a middle class which had developed a new morality guided by principles of freedom and equality. During this second period of direct colonial rule by Rildanor, the authorities were far more repressive in their attempts to "Canrillise" the population by forcing many native peoples outside of Lourenne's borders and encouraging immigration from Rildanor, as well as Kanjor and Alduria. By the 1860s, anti-colonial militants had organised in the southern regions of the country and seized significant portions of territory from the Rildanorien administration by utilising unorthodox, guerrilla tactics. Across the next decade, a conflict commonly referred to as the Slow Revolution developed, in which the Orinco militants were able to make constant gains over the Rildanorien armed forces, leaving only the urbanised, coastal regions of Lourenne under colonial rule. A turning point came as the colonial regions lost access Lourenne's resource-rich south, leaving many of the colony's most important companies on the brink of bankruptcy and an increasingly dissatisfied populace. The impending collapse of the colonial regime led a small group of Rildanorien wealthy aristocrats to orchestrate a bloodless coup. After bribing the colonial army, the group established the Council for Self-Governance and took control of most of the Lourennais territory. The Council sought to reach an immediate peaceful resolution with the Orinco resistance movements but many of the leaders were resistant to accepting Rildanorien rule even with democratic reforms. By 1873 a compromise had been reached which would see the largest resistance movements lay down their weapons and the new Lourennais government declaring official independence from Rildanor. 1873-1911: Confederation In 1873, a power-sharing agreement was drafted between Orinco settlements and the territory controlled by the Council for Self-Governance. In order to transition from a state of war to a single unified state, a confederate structure was established. Foreign policy issues were managed by the Council but, otherwise, individual territories were free to govern themselves. Lourenne's declaration of independence was initially met with opposition from Rildanor but it soon became clear that it would not be realistic for the country to reclaim their former colony due to both military weakness and domestic public opinion. Instead, the government sought negotiate a compromise agreement, which provided Rildanor with "privileged trader" status in Lourenne. Over the coming centuries, the two countries maintained a close relationship and this continues to the modern day. The confederate organisation was effective at ensuring a peaceful early period following the agreement between the two warring parties but it was far less effective at fulfilling the basic needs of the native populations. For much of this early period, Lourenne was led by Thomas Cheval, a Canrillaise-speaking descendent of Rildanorien colonists. While he had been involved in the founding of the Confederation, he remained committed to establishing a single unitary state in Lourenne in the long-term, which was a source of controversy with the native-majority territories. The early confederate period was relatively stable and, in fact, led to a gradual increase in the standard of living for many in the Canrillaise regions of the country, though this wasn't the case for many in the other parts of the country. By the early 20th century, however, faith in the system was deteriorating amid an economic downturn and tension between several states over land and resource control. Treatment of ethnic minorities across the country was generally poor and this led to further tension between states. In the summer of 1911, these tensions erupted into civil unrest by Orincos, Nadavis and Taxtecos in the Canrillaise regions. The deployment of military force only further fuelled the unrest and increased pressure from the other states. 1911-1953: Divided rule In late 1911, several states issued declarations of secession or independence from the Confederation and within a few months, the structure had been entirely dissolved. Although there was continued tensions between territories, this early post-confederate period was relatively peaceful with only occasional border skirmishes. As time progressed, however, it became clear that many of the smaller, territories in the south and east could not sustain themselves independently. Between 1919 and 1948, there was near-constant war between the numerous territories, each seeking to expand their land and influence. These conflicts were conducted almost barbarically and had a severe impact on the quality of life for most citizens outside of the eastern regions. 1948 was a significant turning point in this series of conflicts, referred to as the Lourennais Territorial War, when the Canrillaise territories began a process of expansion. Having secured foreign support from Rildanor, Kanjor and Luthori among others, the regime began launching brutal assaults across Lourenne. Over the next five years, they were able to take control of most of the former Confedeation and the modern Lourenne region but in order to secure their control and prevent further unrest, they committed numerous atrocities against the native populations. These events have retrospectively been termed the Nojoch Matanza (meaning "great killing" or "great slaughter" in the Orinco language). 1953-2375: Canrillaise State Once control over the entire country had been asserted, the territorial governments formed the Canrillaise State of Lourenne. Throughout its existence, the Canrillaise State continued to commit atrocities against the native populations in order to consolidate its control of the region and prevent resistance movements developing. 2375-2407: First republican period 2408-2437: New Kingdom 2438-2704: Second republican period 2704-2786: Golden Kingdom 2809-2864: Great State 2919-3005: Grand Republic 3005-3054: Holy Empire 3054-3068: Confederate period 3068-3698: Imperial period 3698-4276: Interim period 4276-present: Modern period Category:History of Lourenne